Update: Owen reads on All Things Considered
That would be blows up in the frothing SoCal grom sense. As in, splashed all over the Washington Post blowing up. As in elbowing aside Garry Trudeau’s ho-hum quotes about his favorite type of pen blowing up.
Admittedly, Trudeau got in a good one about how mighty his Uni-Ball Vision Elite is and what it might be mightier than. But, scant paragraphs later, Owen pops up threatening to do a blog post on Chuck Norris-themed graffiti in Iraq’s Port-a-Potties. The kid is unstoppable.
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This week, Sgt. Roy Batty, a.k.a. my brother Owen, fresh off the plane from Germany, toured Washington D.C. and sat down with Garry Trudeau and another uniformed blogger to sign copies of The Sandbox, a new book compiling the blog’s best dispatches from Afganistan and Iraq. Owen has several pieces in it, including one of my favorites about a dog he and his Humvee team nearly adopted. Go read it.
pics: Owen squints at the mean streets of Alameda, Ca. They behave. Later, he takes time out from clearing buildings for a swing with nephew Theo.
surf.bird.scribble. 
congrats and welcome home!
Although you can search for Sgt Roy Batty’s thoughts on the Sandbox milblog, you may as well save the hassle and grab the book instead–it’s available from Amazon for as little as $12! You can find it at tinyurl.com/39kuc7
Hooray that he’s home! I wish I’d known he was in DC, we would’ve found him and given him some love. I’d been reading his (and the others’) stuff on Trudeau’s site but will definitely hunt down the book.
Dude–I totally heard that story on my way home last night, but had no idea Sgt. Batty is your bro. Kudos to him. His piece was by far the best. Very vivid. It’s clear that y’all are brothers-not just because you look like brothers, but also because you both have writing talent and get into dangerous life experiences. Antartica? What an adventure that will be. Good luck with the project.
OK, I admit, I blanched at the title of this post, knowing that you had a brother posted in Iraq. Thumbs down to the sensational headlines, but congrats to your brother on returning safely and getting recognition for his writing. A book of blog posts seems strange, but for some reason I think I’d rather read these away from the screen.
Hey, Hannah,
Thanks for the temperate thumbs-down. I went with the sensational on the ground that had my brother really blown up, you would not be reading it in a headline on this blog. Thanks for the well-wishes.
the Interloper has it right. it’s very clear that you two are brothers…..terrific writers, adventurous spirits, fascinating interests and best of all…..free thinkers.
thanks and loads of admiration to you both.
The Mumbler